WATTS INDEXThe canonical database of visual culture

Artists›Mark Dion

Mark Dion

Mark Dion

1961

WA-00005741

DrawingConceptual ArtContemporary

Representation

None documented

0

Institutional Exhibitions

24

Works in Collection

63

Assets Indexed

13

Authority-backed Facts

0

Publications Referenced

80%

Profile Completeness

Cultural Positioning

Influence Graph

No influence edges encoded yet.

Authority Records (2)

WikidataQ1900022

Field Verification (6 fields)

3 cross-verified · 3 single-source

Primary mediumWikidata + Unknown· 92%✓
Birth yearWikidata + Unknown· 92%✓
BiographyWikipedia + Unknown· 88%✓
NationalityWikidata + Artsy+1· 92%
LocationArtsy + Wikidata+1· 85%
DeceasedUnknown· 20%

Source Registry (2)

Tanya-Bonakdarhttps://www.artsy.net/artist/mark-dion
Tier 3 · Scraped/inferred100%
MoMA bulk 2026-05-04https://www.moma.org/artists/27427
Tier 1 · Institutional92%

About

Why this artist matters now

Mark Dion makes installations that appropriate the visual conventions of natural history and scientific display, cabinet taxonomy, specimen arrangement, field research staging, to interrogate how institutions construct authoritative knowledge about the natural world. His practice exposes the ideological and political pressures embedded in scientific objectivity, tracing how pseudo-science and social agendas shape public understanding of nature and environmental policy. His permanent work Neukom Vivarium, a functioning outdoor learning lab at the Olympic Sculpture Park in Seattle, exemplifies his commitment to embedding critique within working, inhabited systems rather than purely aesthetic objects.

Source: Tanya Bonakdar · Trust score: 100% · Updated 2mo ago

Graph relationships

Taste overlap and adjacency

Movement

Conceptual Art

Medium

Drawing

Related Artists

12 in graph

Institutional

Museum Collections

Tate Whitney Museum of American Art

Canonical record

Artworks (24)

Phantoms of the Clark Expedition

Phantoms of the Clark Expedition

2011 · Colored pencil on eleven sheets of paper

6 x 6" (15.2 x 15.2 cm) each

Museum of Modern Art

Fragments of Travel, Exploration and Adventure

Fragments of Travel, Exploration and Adventure

2007 · Illustrated book with twenty-seven bound-in lithographs, offset printed, six bound-in digital prints, five loose lithographs, offset printed and two loose digital prints

page: dimensions vary; overall: 10 1/4 x 12 5/8 x 7/8" (26 x 32 x 2.3 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Aviary Library

2006 · Colored pencil on paper

8 1/4 × 5 7/8" (21 × 14.9 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Cabinet (from Project 82 - "Rescue Archeology: A Project for The Museum of Modern Art")

Cabinet (from Project 82 - "Rescue Archeology: A Project for The Museum of Modern Art")

2004 · Wood, aluminum, plaster, concrete, glass, plastic, paint, stone, ceramic, brick and various metals

8' 6" x 59 1/2 x 36" (259.1 x 151.1 x 91.4 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Rescue Archaeology - A Project for the Museum of Modern Art

Rescue Archaeology - A Project for the Museum of Modern Art

2004 · Cut-and-pasted printed paper with colored pencil and pencil on cardstock

11 x 14" (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Scheme of the Field Investigation 1986-2003: The Representation of Nature

Scheme of the Field Investigation 1986-2003: The Representation of Nature

2003 · Colored pencil and pencil on cardstock

10 x 16 1/2" (25.4 x 41.9 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Scheme of the Field of Investigation. 1986-2003

Scheme of the Field of Investigation. 1986-2003

2003 · Colored pencil, felt-tip pen, and pencil on cardstock

17 x 13 1/2" (43.2 x 34.3 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Babel

2002 · Felt-tip pen on graph paper

8 1/2 × 5 1/2" (21.6 × 14 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Seattle Vivarium

2002 · Colored pencil on six sheets of paper

.a): 9 x 12" (22.9 x 30.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Die geöffnete Raritäten-und Naturalien-Kammer from the series Ex Libris

Die geöffnete Raritäten-und Naturalien-Kammer from the series Ex Libris

2002 · Artist's book with offset bookplate

overall (closed): 7 1/2 x 4 3/4 x 11/16" (19 x 12 x 1.8 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Tate Thames (Locker)

Tate Thames (Locker)

2000 · Graphite, paper and coloured pencil on paper

support: 280 x 356 mm support, secondary: 331 x 407 mm frame: 350 x 428 x 19 mm image: 241 x 330 mm

Tate Thames Dig - Locker

Tate Thames Dig - Locker

2000 · Steel locker, work overalls, lab coat, boots, baseball cap, fluorescent site jacket, digging tools, buckets, books, glas

Rescue Archaeology - A Project for the Museum of Modern Art

Rescue Archaeology - A Project for the Museum of Modern Art

2000 · Colored pencil and pencil on cardstock

11 x 14" (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Tate Thames Dig

Tate Thames Dig

1999 · Wooden cabinet, porcelaine, earthenware, metal, animal bones, glass and 2 maps

unconfirmed: 2660 x 3700 x 1260 mm

Two Banks

1998 · Graphite on paper

support: 356 x 430 mm frame: 428 x 504 x 18 mm

Tate Thames Dig (Two Banks)

Tate Thames Dig (Two Banks)

1998 · Graphite on paper

support: 248 x 332 mm support, secondary: 298 x 381 mm frame: 318 x 400 x 19 mm

The Department of Marine Animal Identification of the City of San Francisco (Chinatown Division); The American Acclimatization Society; The San Francisco Bay Authority – Plankton Research Station

The Department of Marine Animal Identification of the City of San Francisco (Chinatown Division); The American Acclimatization Society; The San Francisco Bay Authority – Plankton Research Station

1998 · Collage, pencil, and colored pencil on four sheets of paper

each: 11 x 14" (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Concrete Jungle (Mammalia)

1993 · Garbage cans, taxidermied animals, ironing board, snow shovel, broom, mop handle, hoses, plastic buckets, plastic bin, plastic bottles, milk crate, glass, paper, paint cans, newspapers, magazines, and bicycle

Overall: 53 × 139 × 54 in. (134.6 × 353.1 × 137.2 cm)

Whitney Museum of American Art

From the series "Mickey Cuvier 'discovers' extinction"

1990 · Colored pencil and pencil on four pieces of paper all in artist's frames

Museum of Modern Art

Untitled from the Museum in Progress project The Message as Medium

1990 · Lithograph, offset printed

sheet (two-page spread): 18 1/2 x 24 13/16" (47 x 63 cm); composition: 16 7/8 x 23" (42.8 x 58.4 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

M. Cuvier "Discovers" Extinction

1990 · Colored pencil and pencil on paper in artist's frame

Museum of Modern Art

Taxonomy of Non-Endanger Species

1990 · Colored pencil and pencil on paper in artist's frame

Museum of Modern Art

Evolution and the Fixivity of a Rodent Species

1990 · Colored pencil and pencil on paper in artist's frame

Museum of Modern Art

Deep Time and Disney Time

1990 · Colored pencil and pencil on paper in artist's frame

Museum of Modern Art

View all 24 artworks →

Artwork sources (3)

24 published of 42 catalogued · 32 with image

MoMA
18 publishedof 36 catalogued27 img
Tate
5 published5 img
Whitney
1 published

Per-Artwork Provenance Chains (top 5)

5 entries · 1 sources

Tate Thames (Locker)
2000 · Tate · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Tate Thames Dig
1999 · Tate · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Two Banks
1998 · Tate · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Tate Thames Dig (Two Banks)
1998 · Tate · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Tate Thames Dig - Locker
2000 · Tate · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number

Record

Images

10 assets

Artsy artist portrait

Artsy

Untitled (Purple, White, and Red) (Art Institute of Chicago)

Art Institute of Chicago

Rose Art Museum 4

Wikimedia Commons

Mark Dion Vedahaugane 2021 07 31

Wikimedia Commons

ON TAKING MARK DION

Wikimedia Commons

Mark Dion Xylotheque replicas Ottoneum

Wikimedia Commons

Xylotheque Ottoneum Mark Dion

Wikimedia Commons

Xylotheque Ottoneum 2

Wikimedia Commons

View all 10 media items →

Relationships

4

Movements2

Conceptual Art Contemporary

Collections2

Tate Whitney Museum of American Art

Institutional

Representation & Collections

In collection

Tate

In collection

Whitney Museum of American Art

Background

Education

University of Hartford

Visual Arts

Record

Exhibitions and timeline

No exhibitions or timeline entries yet